VB Blog

Paper: New Keylogger on the Block

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jul 5, 2016

In a new paper published by Virus Bulletin, Sophos researcher Gabor Szappanos takes a look at the KeyBase keylogger, sold as a commercial product and popular among cybercriminals who use it in Office exploit kits.

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BSides Denver to take place the day after VB2016

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Jun 28, 2016

VB2016, the 26th International Virus Bulletin conference, is an excellent reason to go to Denver, Colorado in the first week of October. But there is another reason to come to Denver: BSides Denver, which will take place the day after VB2016, on Saturday 8 October 2016.

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VB2015 paper: DDoS Trojan: A Malicious Concept that Conquered the ELF Format

Posted by   Virus Bulletin on   Jun 13, 2016

In their VB2015 paper, Peter Kálnai and Jaromír Hořejší look at the current state of DDoS trojans forming covert botnets on unsuspecting systems. The paper provides a technical analysis of the most important malware families, focusing on infection methods, dynamic behaviour, C&C communication, obfuscation techniques, advanced methods of persistence and stealth, and elimination of rivals.

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Throwback Thursday: Hyppönen, that Data Fellow / Finnish Sprayer

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 2, 2016

This week, well known and universally respected industry guru Mikko Hyppönen celebrates his 25th anniversary of working at F-Secure (formerly known as Data Fellows). VB takes a look back in the archives at two articles published in 1994: an "insight" into the life and work of the then rising star of the anti-virus world, and a virus analysis penned by the man himself.

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VB2015 paper: Economic Sanctions on Malware

Posted by   Helen Martin on   Jun 1, 2016

Financial pressure can be a proactive and potentially very effective tool in making our computer ecosystems safer. By cleverly employing various trust metrics and technologies such as digital signing, watermarking, and public-key infrastructure in strategically selected places, we can encourage good behaviours and punish bad ones. In his VB2015 paper, Igor Muttik analyses and gives examples of technologies (certificates, credentials, etc.) to de-incentivize bad behaviours in several ecosystems (Windows, Android, iOS).

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Virus Bulletin's job site for recruiters and job seekers

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 26, 2016

Virus Bulletin has relaunched its security job vacancy service and added a new section, in which job seekers can advertise their skills and experience.

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Throwback Thursday: One_Half: The Lieutenant Commander?

Posted by   Helen Martin on   May 26, 2016

In October 1994, a new multi-partite virus appeared, using some of the techniques developed by the Dark Avenger in Commander_Bomber. As if this were not enough, the One_Half virus could also encrypt vital parts of the fixed disk. Eugene Kaspersky provided a detailed analysis.

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Advertisements on Blogspot sites lead to support scam

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 9, 2016

Support scam pop-ups presented through malicious advertisements show that, next to vulnerable end points, gullible users remain an easy source of money for online criminals.

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To make Tor work better on the web, we need to be honest about it

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   May 6, 2016

Many websites put barriers in front of visitors who use the Tor network. If we want to make the web more accessible through Tor, we need to be honest about why this is done, rather than cry wolf about a dislike for privacy, Martijn Grooten says.

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Paper: How It Works: Steganography Hides Malware in Image Files

Posted by   Martijn Grooten on   Apr 28, 2016

A new paper by CYREN researcher Lordian Mosuela takes a close look at Gatak, or Stegoloader, a piece of malware that was discovered last year and that is controlled via malicious code embedded in a PNG image, a technique known as steganography.

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Call for Papers: VB2016 Denver

VB seeks submissions for the 26th Virus Bulletin Conference.
VB seeks submissions for the 26th Virus Bulletin Conference.Virus Bulletin is seeking submissions from those wishing to present papers at VB2016, which will take place 5 to 7… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/12/call-papers-denver/

VB2015 video: Making a dent in Russian mobile banking phishing

Sebastian Porst explains what Google has done to protect users from phishing apps targeting Russian banks.
Sebastian Porst explains what Google has done to protect users from phishing apps targeting Russian banks. In the last few years, mobile malware has evolved from a mostly… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/12/video-making-dent-russian-mobile-banking-phishing/

Conference review: Botconf 2015

Third botnet fighting conference another big success.
Third botnet fighting conference another big success. Though only in its third year, Botconf has already become a regular fixture in my schedule. And thus, after having attended… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/12/conference-review-botconf-2015/

High spam catch rates continue in latest spam filter test

US presidential candidates regularly see their emails blocked by spam filters.
US presidential candidates regularly see their emails blocked by spam filters. Yet again, there was good news for most participants in the bi-monthly VBSpam spam filters tests:… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/12/high-spam-catch-rates-continue-latest-spam-filter-test/

Throwback Thursday: A View from the Lab

This Throwback Thursday, VB heads back to 1997 with 'A View from the Lab'.
This Throwback Thursday, VB heads back to 1997 with 'A View from the Lab'. According to its website, the AV-TEST Institute currently registers over 390,000 new malicious programs… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/12/throwback-thursday-view-lab/

December

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/12/

Paper: Optimizing ssDeep for use at scale

Brian Wallace presents tool to optimize ssDeep comparisons.
Brian Wallace presents tool to optimize ssDeep comparisons. Malware rarely comes as a single file, and to avoid having to analyse each sample in a set individually, a fuzzy hashing… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/paper-optimizing-ssdeep-use-scale/

Throwback Thursday: Legal attempts to reduce spam. A UK perspective

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to November 2003, when spam was such a hot topic that VB decided to launch a dedicated 'VB Spam Supplement'.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to November 2003, when spam was such a hot topic that VB decided to launch a dedicated 'VB Spam Supplement'. While, today, spam is a… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/throwback-thursday-legal-attempts-reduce-spam-uk-perspective/

Paper: 3ROS exploit framework kit — one more for the infection road

Aditya K. Sood and Rohit Bansal highlight a different side of an exploit kit.
Aditya K. Sood and Rohit Bansal highlight a different side of an exploit kit. Exploit kits are a serious plague on the Internet, made worse by the fact that the online… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/paper-3ros-exploit-framework-kit-one-more-infection-road/

Throwback Thursday: What DDoS it all Mean?

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to March 2000, when DDoS attacks were a newly emerging menace.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to March 2000, when DDoS attacks were a newly emerging menace. Today, DDoS attacks are a well-known form of cyber abuse — indeed,… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/throwback-thursday-what-ddos-it-all-mean/

The Internet of Bad Things, Observed

In his VB2015 keynote address, Ross Anderson described attacks against EMV cards.
In his VB2015 keynote address, Ross Anderson described attacks against EMV cards. The VB2015 opening keynote by Ross Anderson could hardly have been more timely. In his talk "The… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/internet-bad-things-observed/

Full house in VB's latest spam filter test

All participating full solutions earn VBSpam certification, while little delay is observed in spam filters.
All participating full solutions earn VBSpam certification, while little delay is observed in spam filters. There is good news for those who rely on spam filters — which means… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/full-house-vb-s-latest-spam-filter-test/

Throwback Thursday: Inside Sony's rootkit

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back ten years, when the discovery of a rootkit ignited a firestorm of criticism for Sony.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back ten years, when the discovery of a rootkit ignited a firestorm of criticism for Sony. Rootkits are common among modern malware, and… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/throwback-thursday-inside-sony-s-rootkit/

Paper: Shifu — the rise of a self-destructive banking trojan

Thorough analysis of this new kid on the malware block.
Thorough analysis of this new kid on the malware block. Times are changing rapidly for banking trojans. Some prominent arrests and at least partially successful takedowns have left… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/paper-shifu-rise-self-destructive-banking-trojan/

Hack.lu 2015

Great research presented in a stimulating environment.
Great research presented in a stimulating environment. I had heard many good stories about previous Hack.lu conferences, so I was excited this year to finally be able to make it… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/hack-lu-2015/

November

Anti-virus and security related news provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/11/

Throwback Thursday: Memetic Mass Mailers: Time to Classify Hoaxes as Malware?

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 2002, when virus hoaxes were wreaking havoc in homes and organizations worldwide.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to July 2002, when virus hoaxes were wreaking havoc in homes and organizations worldwide. Virus hoaxes — false reports or warnings… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/10/throwback-thursday-memetic-mass-mailers-time-classify-hoaxes-malware/

Throwback Thursday: The real virus problem

Anti-virus and security related articles provided by independent anti-virus advisors, Virus Bulletin
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to February 2004 when, in order to get a gauge of the "real" virus problem, Jim Bates presented the findings of a survey of UK… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/10/throwback-thursday-real-virus-problem/

Paper: MWI-5: Operation HawkEye

Gabor Szappanos looks at how macro malware campaigns spread a commercial keylogger to harvest banking details.
Gabor Szappanos looks at how macro malware campaigns spread a commercial keylogger to harvest banking details. Macro malware was a plague in the late 1990s, when Microsoft Office… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/10/paper-mwi-5-operation-hawkeye/

Throwback Thursday: Misguided or malevolent? New trends in virus writing

This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to February 2004 when Stuart Taylor wondered whether there was truly a criminal element entering virus writing.
This Throwback Thursday, we turn the clock back to February 2004 when Stuart Taylor wondered whether there was truly a criminal element entering virus writing. These days, no one… https://www.virusbulletin.com/blog/2015/10/throwback-thursday-misguided-or-malevolent-new-trends-virus-writing/

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